On Wednesday, Oct. 16th, Madison NOW members will share the empowering message of Love Your Body Day with University of Wisconsin students by passing out care packages on library mall.
The care packages will contain an article entitled “Loving Your Body in the Age of Patriarchy” by University of Minnesota Graduate Student Sam White. They will also include homemade Love Your Body Day buttons, and a card with a link to a collection of resources related to body image and acceptance.
“Love Your Body Day helps initiate the much needed conversation about the distress felt by women and girls each day,” said Madison NOW president Wendi Kent. “Women and girls are bombarded by unrealistic images of the perfect body, which weakens their confidence and therefore, hinders their ability to contribute to our society to their fullest potential.”
The National Organization for Women has been celebrating Love Your Body Day since 1997 in an effort to combat the beauty template that women are expected to follow, which is narrow, unrealistic, and potentially hazardous to their health. The National Eating Disorder Association estimates that 10 – 20% of female college students struggle with an eating disorder, which is one of the reasons that Madison NOW has chosen to focus on campus for this year’s campaign.
“College-aged women have so many things to focus on and work towards,” said Madison NOW member Dayna Long. “If they can feel confident in their own skin, they can spend more time on that important business and less time on the never-ending body project that we’re pressured into as women.”
By encouraging women to celebrate and accept their bodies as they are, NOW hopes to wipe out these narrow beauty standards and superficial gender stereotypes. Eradicating the portrayal of women’s bodies as commodities will help erode sexism in other areas and advance the organization’s goal of full equality for all.
The Madison chapter of the National Organization for Women has over 250 members and is committed to winning equality for the women of Wisconsin.